Medieval cooking

In a week's time, I will be at an SCA event in Ireland, standing in a kitchen, helping with the cooking.

So, what I am doing today and tomorrow, obviously, is stand in my own kitchen, test-cooking some dishes.

Hopefully there will be pictures later.

First course: Roast Beast with red cabbage and dumplings

Roast beast (Turkey; I know it's not authentic but sue me. It was an inexpensive cut of meat. Could have used a small chicken.) which was roasted on a bed of mixed vegetables (carrots, celeriac, turnip, onion, garlic, with thyme and rosemary mixed with a bit of olive oil) and a slug of red wine.

Red cabbage cooked with a bit of red wine, bay leaf, redcurrant jam, ginger and cinnamon, lemon juice, and a spoonful of applesauce (could have just chopped an apple in there and will do that next time).

Czech-style dumplings (flour, egg, water, milk, small pieces of dry white bread).

The meat was nice and tender, and the flavours of the herbs and the wine came through. Perhaps a bit of red wine vinegar or lemon juice to add next time as the carrots and turnip made it a little on the sweet side.

Mashing some of the veg with the liquor (and perhaps a slug of cream) would make for an excellent sauce.

Red cabbage is a classic, but definitely use chopped apple next time, the apple sauce tastes strange here. Usually there's also some clove in there but the feast I was test-cooking for had a clove allergy, but if one ups the ginger and lemon juice it works just fine. I was told it tastes of Christmas. :)

All in all, very tasty indeed.